Red Herring
by unworthyapologies
Summary: A camping trip gone completely wrong brings 5 women to understand the darker sides of the world, including the people who are out there, and the people who surround them.
1. Prologue

This is a special collab between me and my good friend Dragonfly Glimmers! Please check out her stories as well! She's an amazing writer!

We do not own any part of Naruto, and all of the rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Although if we did, Naruto and Hinata would be married!

Red Herring

i. prologue

The smell of marshmallows being burnt filled the air as five girls took turns telling ghost stories. As it would turn out, two girls - one with beautiful violet hair and the other with two buns plastered to the side of her head - were clinging to each other, practically scared out of their wits as a blonde with a ponytail and a peekaboo bang expertly told the story. Flashlight in hand, the young woman suddenly flashed it on the two scared girls, ending her story with an anti-climatic, "Boo."

Both the girls shrieked as a pink-haired girl punched the one telling the story. "Ino! Don't be a jerk, can't you see Hinata and Tenten hate horror stories?"

Another blonde with an interesting hairstyle rolled her eyes and hoisted herself up on a log. "Sakura, the story wasn't that scary anyway. They're just babies."

"But Temari," The storyteller known as Ino said expertly, "you can't deny that it's also the fact that I'm the best storyteller!" Ino was about to continue, accentuating it with a hairflip, but the sound of sniveling interrupted her. The three girls turned to see that Tenten, who had recently released her amethyst-haired friend, was staring at a slightly crying Hinata.

Sakura huffed, "Hinata, grow up." The pink-haired girl crossed her arms, staring at the wimpy girl. She was so pathetic.. "You would _never_ be able to survive in the wild, on your own!" The loathing in her voice made the group wince.

"Hey," Ino said softly, punching Sakura's shoulder lightly, "You could've said it a little nicer..."

"S-Sakura," Hinata stood, sniffing and wiping her eyes with her sleeve, "You're always so mean to me...I-I..."

"I'm just trying to toughen you up, Hinata!" The emerald-eyed girl said, walking towards Hinata. The other girls glanced at each other, not daring to snap the tension, for it was as thick as a barbed wire. "You're just absolutely pathetic Hinata. You have no defense mechanics whatsoever. Look, you wouldn't even be able to handle a punch like..."

Sakura stopped herself, swinging a punch at Hinata. The purple-clad girl narrowed her eyes, ducking and quickly popping up, shoving an elbow in the middle of Sakura's solar plexus. As the pink-haired girl stumbled back, Hinata rose her leg to kick the girl right in the stomach, and then resumed fighting stance as Sakura crumpled to the floor. "A-Ah...Sakura...I didn't want to hurt y-you, b-but I just got s-s-so scared..."

The emerald-eyed woman rose, clenching her fists. Temari and Ino also stood, preparing to hold the girls back. However, an icy glare from Sakura froze them in their tracks. Her stare...it held such... Sakura broke the glance, and turned back towards to Hinata. "Hinata, that is such crap! You act all nice and sweet but that's just an _act!_"

"H-Huh?" Hinata seemed genuinely confused, backing up slightly as Sakura loomed over her. "W-What are y-you-"

"You've had such a charmed life," The pink-haired girl spoke, breathing the word 'charmed' as if it had a contagious disease, "What with Neji protecting you all the time." In the corner of Hinata's eye, she could see Tenten wince. However, she didn't have time to console her friend as Sakura barked, "Oh, that's right: he's **dead** now."

The bright-eyed Hyuga frowned as a spark of courage mustered up within her, staring Sakura down right in the eyes. The other girl flinched, unused to Hinata's valor. "Don't talk about my-"

The bushes moved.

Tenten was the first to shriek, grabbing onto Temari, who promptly shoved her off. "Guys, what was that?"

It was followed by a few screams, and then swallowed by darkness.

R&R!


	2. Guilt

We do not own Naruto.

The stars were out and shining, the trees were full of summer life, and the wind was calm. The fire that they had created had gone out. There laid five beautiful women who had just been attacked by creatures not thought about every day. Five vampires have attacked them from the forest surrounding them. You see them in your nightmares; maybe even in a storybook, but what would you do if you physically encountered them?

Temari was the first to awaken, and she observed her surroundings. She saw her four friends lying on the ground. Yes, they were attacked, but their faces seemed...peaceful, like they were okay. She checked everyone's pulses, and everyone seemed fine, except for Sakura. Her pulse was slightly irregular, and Temari became nervous. She began to shake Sakura, but she didn't wake up.

"Damn it Sakura, please wake up!" shouted Temari. She kept shaking and shaking her, but no luck.

Ino woke up next. She rubbed her head, and felt quite groggy and her stomach was sore. She lifted up her shirt partially, and saw several cuts and a decently sized bruise on her stomach. She screamed at the sight of it. Temari turned around and smirked.

"You know how we were discussing who couldn't survive in the wild?" Temari joked as she received a glare from Ino, and she went back to focusing on Sakura.

"It's not funny Temari, this looks really bad! Do you have a first aid kit?"

Temari looked back over and said, "I think Sakura might have one, check her bag."

Ino went over to Sakura's bag, and opened it. "I kind of feel guilty for searching through it, but oh well, this is an emergency!" She unzipped the bag, and started searching. "Clothes, clothes, more clothes, even more clothes, a prese-Hey! A present! Who could it be for? She looked at the perfectly wrapped gift. "Hm…Oh, here's the label! To Sakura: let's put the past behind us, and we could possibly become great friends! That's weird, Sakura and Hinata are already friends, what's the meaning of this?" She found the first aid kit, opened it, and found a note, and ointment inside. "I shouldn't read this," Ino repeated at least 6 times, but went against her will, and began to read it.

Ino searched the note for anything scandalous, but found nothing interesting, just a list of supplies she needed to purchase for her first aid kit. That was when she turned it upside down, and saw a blood stained "Help Me" written obviously very shakily. She dropped it, her mouth agape from the sight of it.

"Can I help you with something?"

Ino jumped at the voice that had come from behind her. She turned around and saw a very angry Sakura. "Why are you going through my stuff?"

Ino looked at her and said in a very matter of fact tone, "I was looking for a first aid kit, explain this, Sakura!" and she shoved the note into Sakura's face.

Sakura looked shocked for a second, but then screamed, "You idiot! This is a Halloween brand note! See!" She pointed at the bottom of the note that said 'Happy Halloween!'

Ino apologized for snooping around, and she applied the ointment to her injuries, and claimed instant relief from it. She stood up and walked towards the group as Temari said she performed a 'special' type of CPR in which she slapped Sakura hard across the face.

"Watch, it could be done like this!" She said, slapping Tenten hard across the face, causing her trip over the nearby log, and fall.

"You bitch! I'll get you back for that!" shouted a very angry Tenten. She stood up and started chasing Temari in a cat and mouse type way. Hinata giggled at the sight of it, but immediately stopped when she turned around to see Sakura looking slightly upset.

"H-Hey Sakura, what's w-wrong?" questioned Hinata politely. The girls all turned around, and watched.

Sakura noticed and looked at Hinata, and instead of replying with something nasty, and uncalled for, she sighed, "I've just- I want to apologize to you Hinata, for what I said back there. It was really out of place for me to say those things, and I was wrong. I know we have our differences, and I appreciate you giving me that gift. For now, can we just put them aside, and get along for the sake of them?" She pointed at the girls. They all smiled, and then turned around, and became distracted with what they were doing.

"S-s-sure Sakura, but I don't get w-why we can't be fr-" Sakura grabbed her by the collar, changing her whole attitude, looked her right in the eyes, and said, "Listen closely, I apologized to you, I don't do that for anyone, now let it go. I don't like you that much, so you need to just accept it. I don't want that stupid gift, so just drop this stupid little good girl act, and don't get in my way, and the next time that you hit me, you'll have bruises all over your body."

Sakura then tossed her towards the ground, in which Hinata caught herself, and looked at Sakura, her eyes filled with dejection. The girls saw Hinata on the ground, and came running over. "Hinata, what happened?" asked Temari.

"Oh, um..." The girl hesitated, "I fell."

Ino gave her a knowing look, and started screaming at Sakura, "What the hell is your problem, you jealous bitch! You know Hinata wouldn't try to hurt anyone, so you're just a **WHORE**." She spit out the last word, like she threw it up.

Sakura, however, had more than a fire within her. She fought back with, "Oh look, little pig's always got something to say, you go through my stuff, and call me a whore? Some friend you are!"

Hinata had tears in her eyes, _'I caused this',_she thought. She stood up, and did something nobody would expect. "Stop…FIGHTING!" she shouted with tears streaming down her face.

"You guys are acting like you're in second grade, we need to stop focusing on fighting, and more on who attacked us, and why," Temari scolded sternly.

"That would be…us."

Two men stood right behind them, both of them pale, with cold eyes that look like they've witnessed a murder, and body language that instantly spelled trouble. They stood side by side; one had crimson red eyes, thick dark hair in a unique style, and was wearing a slightly unzipped grey shirt and a blue cloth with a purple rope tied around it and a popped collar, with blue wrist warmers and dark blue pants and black sandals. The boy to the right of him had spiky blonde hair, an earring, a black shirt with a green vest on top of it, a slashed headband with a symbol tied around his neck, and black pants, with blue bright sandals, with an obnoxious grin.

"You guys are such creeps! How can you attack women like that?" shouted Tenten.

Temari joined in and barked, "You guys are disgusting roaches, just go to hell, where you belong." The man with the crimson eyes smirked, and in an instant, punted Temari into a nearby tree.

"Just shut up before you make me even more mad," said the red eyed boy with an emotionless voice.

Ino looked alarmed and ran over to her friend. "These guys are tough, I'll give them that," whispered Temari, her voice cracking from the pain she was experiencing.

The blonde man cleared his throat and chirped, "Hey Sasuke, can we get some ramen after this? I'm really hungry. Can't we just leave these girls alone now?" Sasuke replied simply responded with a no.

Temari stood up and started shouting, "So your name is Sasuke? I've heard of you, you lived in the leaf village, and disappeared after the murder of Itachi Uchiha. Did I get all of the details right?"

Sasuke looked at her. "Hn." He ran towards her. Sakura grabbed a knife from her bag, and jumped in front of Temari. Everything seemed to happen in an instant.

_Drip, Drip, Drip._

R&R!


	3. Pills

Don't make me say this again...we don't own Naruto! It breaks my heart...

Red Herring

iii. The Pill

"Do you understand your first mission brief, girls?" A blonde woman leaned forward, placing her elbows on the desk before her. Before her eyes were displayed five young women of twenty, and although they were all beautiful, they were her next batch of vampire hunters. Yes, her most promising squad.

"Yes, Tsunade-sensei!" Sakura chirped, Temari next to her rolling her eyes at Sakura's clearly suck-up nature. It was no secret to the squad that Tsunade thought of the cherry blossom-haired girl like a daughter, almost. Jealousy? Pfft. As if Temari would be jealous of _Sakura_ of all people. "But, I have a question," She cleared her throat, "How exactly are we going to fight the vampires? I know you trained us all in martial arts, but don't they have some sort of...power?"

Tsunade cleared her throat and gestured to a black suitcase lying on the desk. "Inside there are five guns, and five specially made pills - pills made from a dead vampire's blood. Should you take the pill, you will be granted supernatural powers - the duration and power depend on the person. However, let it be known that the pill may have side effect, or cause fatigue. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing until you take it."

Their boss scanned them over, reading their expressions before continuing, "Also in the suitcase are five guns, as I mentioned before. They are made specifically for wounding and immoboilizing vampires. However, due to the fact that the guns are made of materials that wound and repel vampires and the pills make you temporarily have the powers of a vampire, the two cannot mix. Now, ladies, you may choose your poison." With the explanation done, Tsunade opened the suitcase to reveal five glimmering silver guns. Near each gun was a delicate pill, red like a sinister ruby.

"Huh," Temari huffed, walking over to the suitcase and picking up the gun. She seemed to study it for a moment, before also picking up a holster. "There is no way in hell I'm going to take anything that'll make me even _remotely_ vampiric."

Ino was next to step up, as she eyed the ruby pill. "I don't know...I wonder what my power will be. The pill just seems a lot more fun, you know?" She was always on the more...daring side. They all watched her down the pill with apprehension. Within minutes, she started to cough and wheeze as everyone started panicking. Then, she stood upright and smiled to everyone, "Haha! Gotcha!" She snickered, then pointed at a pale Sakura and said, "I saw you worrying about me, Forehead!"

"Whatever!" Sakura huffed, marching up to the suitcase and taking a pill. "If Ino can take this pill, then so can I!" She popped it in her mouth, immediately shuddering and spitting it out, much to everyone's disgust. "That thing tastes _gross!_" She turned to Tsunade and bowed slightly, saying, "Tsunade-sensei! I actually have a custom gun that I'd prefer to use! Is that okay with you?"

This elicited another roll of the eyes from Ino and Temari, who were sick of her brownnosing. However, they couldn't deny that Tsunade wasn't charmed, as their boss nodded approval. The emerald-eyed woman fistpumped and gave a triumphant expression to Ino, who just rolled her sole showing sky blue eye. Tenten took the moment to clear her throat, effectively ruining the mood as she skipped up to the suitcase and also chose the gun. "Well, I'll take the gun too! I'm a great shot!"

That only left...Hinata. Ino frowned, hands on her hips as she stared at the girl. Five years hadn't done much - sure, she was a formidable match, but she was still the pacifistic, impressionable girl Ino had always known her to be. Speaking of impressionable.. "Aww, hey, Hinata! You can't let me go solo on the pill! Take it with me! We'll be kickass together!"

"O-Okay..." The lavender-clad girl stuttered, not having the guts to deny the pill, even after Sakura vehemently denied taking it. Almost trembling, the girl reached for the pill, and with reassurance and a wink from Ino, Hinata was able to swallow it. "H-Huh...I don't...f-feel weird..." She pressed her forefingers together timidly and looked to the floor as Tsunade stood.

"Now, we shall split the group into two. Ino, you'll go with Temari and Tenten, seeing as you have a pill. Hinata, as you also have a pill, you should go with Sakura. Understand?" Hinata looked up at Sakura, who seemed to give her a nasty glare out of the corner of her eye, so the purple-haired girl kept her eyes to the floor.

"Understood."

The moon was shining brightly as silvery-grey clouds covered the moon ominously, shadowing the already dark night. According to Tsunade, this was just the time of day vampires liked to feed on innocent-looking people. Considering the fact that the streets were desolate in this part of town, this was also just the place. Sakura and Hinata, both whom hadn't spoke to each other, had kept their senses peeled for something out of the ordinary. Neither knew what to expect, and despite their years of training, Hinata still managed to shake. Were the vampires going to just stroll up to them? Were they going to be hiding in some dark corner? Would they-

Hinata jumped. "D-Did you hear that, S-Sakura?"

Sakura turned towards her partner, straining an ear. "Heard-" She stopped, hearing something akin to metal denting. The pink-haired woman frowned, readying her fists. There was something unsettling in the air. It had to be... "Who's there?"

_'Didn't Sakura say she had a gun?' _Hinata thought, taking a deep breath as she also poised herself. She felt vulnerable without some sort of weapon to defend herself. She just hoped the pill would prove to be of some use. Little did she know, she was experiencing the effects already - veins popped up near her eyes, and every nerve in the human anatomy became painfully clear. Yet still, the change had been so gradual that she hadn't noticed the difference.

A moment of unbearable silence.

When Hinata heard the silence break, she turned around, seeing a flash of yellow. Without even thinking, her body began to move on it's own. She twirled around, quickly thrusting her palm into whoever had been behind her. That person stopped, and almost to Hinata's amazement, she kept striking the man. Finally, she had control of her own body again. She blinked, looking at the blonde heap on the floor. "W-What..." She looked around, and the pointed at herself almost dumbly. "W-Was that...me?"

Sakura shrugged, and both girls inspected what Hinata had just attacked. It was a person...he looked kind of - "Sasuke, what the hell!" The man stood up, taking a step away from the girls. "You told me the purple one looked weaker!"

"Sasuke...?" Sakura twitched at the name. It took her a moment to comprehend why the name sounded so familiar to her, but then her eyes opened in realization. "Wait, so then you have to be...what was your name, again?"

"Naruto Uzumaki!" The blonde chirped, giving the girls a thumbs-up sign. "Believe it!"

"You're so...cheery..." The chartreuse-eyed woman mumbled, shaking her head. Was this _really_ her villain? It didn't seem so. Sakura watched with sharp eyes as Naruto rubbed the back of his head and seemed to be starting up a conversation with a remarkably flushed Hinata. _'That guy has no brains. So, then the one behind that attack from five years ago had to be that Sasuke guy!' _

"Naruto, what are you doing?" There he was. _Sasuke. _Lord of doom and gloom it seemed, as he came out of the shadows with a peeved expression on his face. He even had that monotone to prove it. "We came here to kill them, not to gossip and have tea time." The raven-haired man with piercing red eyes stared at Sakura; his glance empty of emotion. She shot back with her own icy glare. Sakura decided just then and there that he had the emotional range rivaling a shriveled up cactus. At least Naruto seemed _friendly, _even if those whisker things on his cheeks freaked her out a little. What was he? Some kind of wannabe fox cosplayer?

"Awww, Sasuke...you ruin all the fun," Naruto licked his lips before grinning, a duplicate of himself appearing as the duplicate to form what looked to be a spinning blue ball of energy. "Rasengan!"

The girl had no time to panic as her body began to move on it's own once more. She barely had time to comprehend what was going on as she effectively defended herself against the azure energy ball. She released a blue stream from her hands and it completely covered her, it was the ultimate defense. Her move had skidded Naruto back, as he hadn't been preparing to deal with this much resistance. She gasped realizing that there was some blood dripping from his mouth. "A-Are you okay? I-I didn't m-mean..."

Sasuke huffed, watching the two in disgust. He turned towards Sakura, who was charging towards him with her fists. "Please. Blazing Fireball attack!" Without even taking a step, he managed to fend her off. He inhaled, placing his hand near his mouth as if he wanted to smoke a cigarette. Then, he exhaled; his breath turning into fire.

She had been told that vampires - because, assuredly, that was what he _was_ - had superpowers, but she was not expecting some pyro. She nearly shrieked as she barely dodged the stream of fire. Sakura gasped, grasping her arm as she realized the brunt of the flames had seared her arm. She bit her lip, releasing her charred arm and clenching her fist.

"You jerk!" She shouted, getting more infuriated when she realized that Sasuke had lost interest in her as a target. He was currently trudging towards Hinata and Naruto, both of whom didn't seem wholeheartedly dedicated to fighting. "HEY!" She yelled, puffing up her chest as he still ignored her. Sakura growled, grabbing a rock with her good hand and chucking it at Sasuke. Without even looking, he sidestepped it as it hit a wall.

"Ahah...heya, Sasuke," Naruto started nervously, "Just having some fun, you know? Ahaha.."

"Fraternizing with the enemy is not _fun_, Naruto," The red-eyed male spat, and the venom laced in the word 'fun' made Hinata wince. He leaned low to the ground, his hand crackling with electricity. It sounded akin to a thousand birds chirping. With inhuman speed he sprinted towards her, dragging his sparking hand with him. "Chidori!" The blast knocked Hinata back into a wall, causing her to slump over. "Finish her off. I'll deal with forehead."

Oh no. Oh _no_ he did _not_ just say that. Memories of Ino teasing her when she was younger (and even now) about her slightly large forehead came flooding back. Sakura growled, holding her solely usable fist up in the air triumphantly. "I have had _enough_ of your stupid emo haircut, Mr. Hormonal Angst! I am going to inflate that ego of yours so fast, I..."

The moment was broken up a hysterically laughing Naruto. "D-Did you hear that...pffft...Sasuke...Hormonal..." He doubled over in laughter, pointing at his companion. "E-Emo...haircut! Pffft...hahaha..."

Sasuke did not seem amused. "Shut up and help me."

"Geez, alright already!" The blue-eyed male looked back at the violet-haired girl, having not yet killed her. Or done so much as touch a hair on her head, really. He just couldn't bring himself to do it...Well, it was nothing that Sasuke had to know, right? Appearing right beside Sasuke, Naruto cracked his knuckles. "Okay, Mr. Hormonal Angst..."

Sakura gulped. The situation looked grim. Hinata couldn't help her now, and despite the earlier antics, Sasuke and Naruto as a combo were terrifying. She was almost glad Sasuke seemed to have no muscles in his face, because Naruto's grin had an eerily sinister feel.

_'Well...there's only one thing to do in a situation like this.'_

Sakura clenched her fist and charged.

R&R


End file.
